Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Trading 0.9% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $46.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Verizon Communications traded as high as $44.68 and last traded at $44.67. 2,505,571 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 18,838,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.26.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on VZ. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 101.3% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 126,253 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,207,000 after purchasing an additional 63,539 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 267,777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $893,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $33,532,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $188.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.07%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).